The Murdertown Picture Of The Day

Caption: Anthony Sharpe yells at police as he is guided from the playground. Sharpe, whose basketball tournament there draws hundreds of fans, said: "I'm just glad that none of my kids got hurt." (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

Do me a solid and read the (somewhat) short version of this story, will you please?

[A] 17-year-old boy was left dying of multiple shots to the torso; a wounded 22-year-old man and an automatic weapon were found inside a bathroom at the rec center; and police had arrested one of the alleged shooters.

Police, who were near the Athletic Recreation Center at 26th and Jefferson Streets, heard the shots and nabbed a young man who they said was carrying a pistol as he attempted to flee the center. He had not been injured.

Investigators said at least nine shots were fired while the basketball game - part of a tournament attended by several hundred people - was in full swing.

Anthony Sharpe, who runs the tournament, said he had been asking police for weeks to send officers to the playground between 4 and 8 p.m. because the games draw crowds of about 400. "I'm just glad that none of my kids got hurt," Sharpe said.

But Johnson said police were stationed in the area at the time."They heard the shots. They made the arrests," Johnson said. "But it takes you only four or five seconds to commit a homicide."

Finished? Okay, I know today is People I Hate Day - don't worry, it's coming up - but this tool Sharpe needed his own post. So, we're going to play a little game of Murdertown Logic. Strap on your thinking caps, kids, because this game is really, really difficult.

Question #1: If you lived in one of the worst inner-city neighborhoods in Murdertown - for those of you new to SYLG, Murdertown = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - the very last public event you would schedule would be:

A. A chess tournament.
B. A tea party.
C. A basketball tournament.

Question #2: If you were running a basketball tournament that regularly drew close to 1,000 inner-city utes . . . on one of the hottest nights of the year . . . in a town with 256 homicides, you would:

A. Serve free ice cream to cool everyone off.
B. Invite the clergy, because they are a calming influence.
C. Cancel it, because no sport is worth someone's life.

Question #3: When someone is shot and killed at your basketball tournament . . . on one of the hottest nights of the year . . . in a town with 256 homicides, you would:

A. Blame the shooter.
B. Blame yourself.
C. Blame the police who just arrested said shooter.

Okay, pencils down. How did you do? If you answered "A" to all three questions, you are highly intellectual, and should not be wasting your time reading an idiot's blog. Please click "Undo" now.

If you answered "B" to all three questions, you are blessed with common sense, and should be proud that you are a productive member of society. Kudos!

If you answered "C" to all three questions, congratulations: you must be a "highly-respected community leader" within the city of Philadelphia. Since you are obviously too stupid to play the fiddle while the city burns, please go back and re-bury your head in the sand.

(Linked at OTB's Beltway Traffic Jam.)